Congratulations. I'm so happy things worked out well and that you have your beautiful twins.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
What a great result I'm sure they are beautiful and what a relief for you to have all three well.
My thoughts are with your family and I hope its a quick and speedy recovery for Mum wish her the best.
once again Congratulations.

Congratulations Jason! It was nice to read that there was a happy ending to this story!

Mazel tov to you all, and great news that everyone is going home together!

Please make sure your wife's doctor stays on top of her labs and blood pressure until they go back to normal. You mentioned some sort of "heart problem" -- her cardiologist should also be aware that she's had this problem and may want to do an echocardiogram to make sure her heart function has stayed within normal limits. They may want to keep up with closer surveillance following this pregnancy as well.

It's going to be hard with twins, but I know you'll make sure your wife gets all the rest she can manage so she can recover too. C-sections are major surgery, and the pre-eclampsia does take a toll (BTDT, got the t-shirt).

What a great Valentine's present! Best wishes to you all!

Sorry it took me so long to respond with an update. I took everyone's great advice and went to the OB appointment on 2/14 ready to force the issue. Luckily, my wife's OB was on the same page and it took very little convincing that things were not going to get better.

On 2/15 my wife delivered two beautiful 5lbs+ babies by c-section. Mommy and both babies are resting comfortably and hopefully we will all go home together tomorrow. Both babies went to the NICU, but our little boy was out within an hour and eating like a champ. His sister was not so sure about the whole eating thing, but the last 48 hours have shown great improvement and she's doing well. Mom is doing wonderful, and since coming off the magnesium has been improving by leaps and bounds.

I want to thank everyone who responded with advice, it's such a scary thing to deal with the unknown, and leaning on those who have been there before is such a wonderful blessing.

Any update?

Big congratulations for you both on the twin's.

My option is contact your doctor and really stress your concerns for the health for the three of them.
You need to remember that you are the one that sees your wife all the time and notice's the difference with how big her feet get and how painful the headaches can be.

If you don't get a satisfactory reply from you doc take her to the hospital emergency room and tell them the concerns as this is a serious condition and not to be take lightly also take into consideration her health history.

Better to be safe then sorry.I know from previous experience how frustrating not being totally understood can be.
I was monitored for aprox 5 weeks in hospital on and off till I was blessed that another OB took over and made the ruling my daughter had to be born, I honestly think if my first OB didn't go on holidays we both would not be hear today trying to give others strength and awareness. We are both ok after a very frustrating and trying time.

Good Luck and I pray all is ok..

I totally agree. I am not a dr and this is not a medical opinion. Just perspective of been there done that.

quote:Originally posted by hfwarner3

Jason,

Congrads on the twins!

If it was me, I would start with the "help me to help you" approach. I would call the doctor RIGHT NOW and have them paged. When they call you back, I would say, "I know that you are the doctor, not me, but I am confused and scared. My wife is NOT doing well and to me just appears to be getting worse by the day. Her BP just keeps going up. You have found protein in her urine. He ankles are the size of grapefruits. She is throwing up repeatedly and her headache will not go away. This sounds like pre-eclampsia but I am not the doctor, so why do you think it is NOT pre-eclampsia?"

You might be surprised at the answer you get. If that does not start the doctor in the right direction, you can follow-up with, "Well, even if this is not pre-eclampsia, the symptoms alone are scaring the * out of me and making me VERY nervous. I don't feel that I can provide the level of constant care that she needs now. At what point do we talk about getting her in the hospital?"

This will get you a trip to the hospital to "get checked out" and they will likely try to send her home again, so you will have to go through this same routine AGAIN at the hospital until her doctor (or the on-call doctor) decides that the risk of a malpractice suit is greater than the flack they will get from the insurance company for admitting her.

Sorry if this sounds cynical, but a pro-active OB dealing with a mother who is almost 36 weeks with twins, with a heart condition, and with all these symptoms would have induced by now (in my non-expert, non-medical, but been through this same thing 5 times myself opinion).

I have to agree with the others. PE can spin out of control very quickly. There are so many more complications with twins and 37 weeks is considered full-term for them, I would keep bugging the doctors. Ask for criteria for when you should come in - headache that lasts longer than 3 hours and won't go away with drugs, weight gain of more than 2lbs in any one day, or whatever the numbers should be. My husband and I were so unaware of the potential issues. Twins usually mature a little faster than singles so at 35 weeks, they're pretty close.

There's so much that's going to happen after they are born, that you want everyone to be as healthy as possible!

Good luck.

Jason,

Congrads on the twins!

If it was me, I would start with the "help me to help you" approach. I would call the doctor RIGHT NOW and have them paged. When they call you back, I would say, "I know that you are the doctor, not me, but I am confused and scared. My wife is NOT doing well and to me just appears to be getting worse by the day. Her BP just keeps going up. You have found protein in her urine. He ankles are the size of grapefruits. She is throwing up repeatedly and her headache will not go away. This sounds like pre-eclampsia but I am not the doctor, so why do you think it is NOT pre-eclampsia?"

You might be surprised at the answer you get. If that does not start the doctor in the right direction, you can follow-up with, "Well, even if this is not pre-eclampsia, the symptoms alone are scaring the * out of me and making me VERY nervous. I don't feel that I can provide the level of constant care that she needs now. At what point do we talk about getting her in the hospital?"

This will get you a trip to the hospital to "get checked out" and they will likely try to send her home again, so you will have to go through this same routine AGAIN at the hospital until her doctor (or the on-call doctor) decides that the risk of a malpractice suit is greater than the flack they will get from the insurance company for admitting her.

Sorry if this sounds cynical, but a pro-active OB dealing with a mother who is almost 36 weeks with twins, with a heart condition, and with all these symptoms would have induced by now (in my non-expert, non-medical, but been through this same thing 5 times myself opinion).